Renfrewshire council approves plan to offer all school pupils free counselling

A contract for a universal counselling service for pupils across Renfrewshire’s schools has been given the green light by elected members.

Councillors authorised awarding a 20-month deal – worth up to £761,800 – to a company called Health is One at a meeting on Thursday.

This will cover an initial eight months and include an optional 12-month extension at the discretion of Renfrewshire Council, subject to funding.

The agreement is set to commence at the start of October after it was rubber-stamped at the finance, resources and customer services policy board.

A report, which was considered at the meeting, explained: “The recommendations and actions from Scotland’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 highlight the significant need to provide opportunities for early intervention and prevention to avoid the unnecessary escalation of emotional distress in children and young people.

“By promoting positive mental health in children and young people from an early age, the range of positive school outcomes such as attitudes to learning, better attendance and lower exclusion rates will greatly increase.

“The Scottish Government has demonstrated ongoing commitment to supporting positive mental health of children and young people in schools.

“This support includes continued funding to local authorities to ensure that schools have access to counselling services.

“These counselling services are focused on prevention and early intervention and include supports for positive mental health and wellbeing as well as for emotional distress.

“The optional extension year is subject to funding by the Scottish Government.”

The paper, authored by a council procurement assistant, continued: “This will be a universal counselling service accessible to children and young people in primary, secondary and ASN schools, with those services predominantly delivered within a school setting.”

During the tendering period, 21 operators expressed an interest in the opportunity, but ultimately, just three responses were submitted.

An evaluation identified that Health is One’s submission was considered to be the “most economically advantageous” of those under consideration.

The maximum approved value of £761,800, excluding VAT, for the initial period and optional extension will be met by the children’s services revenue budget.